In the News (Mon 3 Aug 15)

This year’s honoree, Chris Locke of San Francisco, CA, who drives a Lotus 77, received an original painting commissioned by KONI from noted artist Roger M. Cortani.

Racing legend Bobby Rahal presented Locke with the award, and two-time Indy 500 winner ArieLuyendyk also was in attendance.

The KONI Heritage Award was created to honor participants within the Historic Grand Prix (HGP) series and is given each year to the “competitor who most clearly embodies the spirit and heritage of the era,” including vehicle livery, team uniforms and helmet graphics.

Given the hero's reception that Luyendyk received, during the two weeks of activity, for the 83rd "Indianapolis 500," it's easy to forget how strange it seemed, in 1990, for ArieLuyendyk to win the "greatest spectacle in racing." The 1990 "500" was Arie's first Indy car win.

Luyendyk, consistently among the fastest drivers, in practice, qualified at 223.304 mph, to grab the outside front row starting spot, next to Fittipaldi and Rick Mears, at 224.215 mph.

Arie must feel a lot of pride that he holds the official one lap record (237.4498 mph), the official four lap record (236.986) and the record for 500 miles.

Dutch Indy Car driver ArieLuyendyk is best known for his sensational 1990 and 1997 Indianapolis 500 victories, but throughout his distinguished career he has experienced success in many different forms of racing.

ArieLuyendyk won the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1989, co-driving a Nissan GTP ZXT with Geoff Brabham and Chip Robinson and backed up his sports car racing credentials with a popular victory in the 1998 24 Hours of Daytona, sharing the winning MOMO Ferrari 333SP with Dr. Gianpiero Moretti, Didier Theys and Mauro Baldi.

Arie actually began his racing career at a driving school in Holland and showed an immediate natural ability to go fast.

Success continued to elude him until he moved to the United States in 1984, where he immediately won the Super Vee championship.

With a to-date record average speed of 185.981 mph (299.307 km/h), Luyendyk won the 1990 Indianapolis 500 for Shierson Racing.

In 1996, he set the qualifying lap record at 237.498 mph, although he did not start on the pole since he qualified on the second day of time trials.

en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Arie_Luyendyk (313 words)

Arie Luyendyk's Last Ride in Indy 500(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-16)

Then, ArieLuyendyk will finish his short walk to a long day of racing, outwardly calm and with both eyes focused on the prize he wants one last time.

Luyendyk punctuates the end of his sentence with the subtle, pencil-thin smile the entire Indy crowd has come to know so well since he first walked into the Indianapolis speedway in 1985 as a relatively unknown road-racer from the Netherlands.

Though Luyendyk is the antithesis of the all-American, oval-track racer at center stage of the Indy Racing League's proclaimed vision, the fans have voted him the most popular driver on the IRL circuit the past two years.

The highlight of Luyendyk's 1985 season, as it would be for just about any rookie driver, was the Indianapolis 500, at which Luyendyk finished seventh in the race, top in the class of six rookies in just his third Indy-car start.

Luyendyk's first Indy victory guaranteed him a place in history but neither it nor his superior understanding of the car could assure him of a future in Indy-car racing.

Luyendyk might have hung up his helmet earlier -- and could have gone out on top following his victory in the season finale in Las Vegas last fall -- but felt he owed it to Treadway, his sponsors and his fans to provide closure in the race that gave him his place in the sport.

He won the race in 1990 and 1997 and still holds track records for the fastest lap in practice (239.620 mph); the fastest speeds in qualifications (237.498 mph for one lap and 236.986 mph for four laps); the fastest average speed in the race (185.981 mph in 1990); and the most career winnings ($6,110,859).

The elder Luyendyk, who retired the first time in 1999 and worked as a TV analyst for ABC the next year, made a comeback at Indy in 2001 and 2002.

Arie drives the No. 5 Dallara/Infiniti/Firestone fielded by Sinden Racing Service and is the son of two-time Indianapolis 500 winner ArieLuyendyk.

Q: Arie, I was talking to your dad last week, he was telling me how you went over to visit your grandfather in Holland, and he put you in a Formula 2000 car for the first time when you were about 14½.

Luyendyk Jr.: Well, my grandfather has been a great supporter of my racing, and when I was younger I was nagging him to get into the race car because he actually restores older Formula Fords and Formula Vees.

Luyendyk, who logged nine laps on the track prior to qualifying, has competed in two IndyCar Pro Series events this season and has 41 career starts in the Pro Series, the feeder series for the IRL.

His father, two-time Indy 500 champion ArieLuyendyk, has compiled a team that includes the chief mechanic and chief engineer from his race-winning campaign in 1997, and Arie Jr.

Luyendyk was born in the Netherlands, lived in Brookfield for a brief time during his childhood and currently resides in Scottsdale, Ariz. He sells real estate and has also worked as a model with Ford Modeling agency.

This time he hit with a force that registered as 88 g, giving him a mild concussion that was sufficient to ground him for the rest of the weekend.

Arie is no stranger to the speeds at the California Speedway - while he currently races in the Indy Racing League, he's a two-time Indy 500 winner, including in 1997, and previous holder of the fastest lap record.

With nothing to lose at the back of the field, Arie dropped into the pits to top up with fuel, but there was a scary moment when a methanol spill burned the refueling man.